Sling



sept. 23, 1930;

H. c. lsBELL SLING Filed Dec. 16, 1929 [infill/11111111112 7 I i Patented Sept. 172,3, 1930 UNLTE D )STAT es, I@PAT E,v OFFICE r' y j y iinnrofIsBEn-Ii,'.orfvleiieGo, IrLnInoIs y i l i i i December Seria-1v No. 414,484-

These improvements relateto `slings for 'one of' the cord-holding extensions infull th'rowingobjectsby hand. Broadly vconsid- Y'eredthe deyicejisfot great antiopiity;y

I "have devisedv aE 'certain sling `game in yF 'which boththefdistance and tlie'accuracy ot 1t-'he balls proj ectioii are :important factors.

.Fr'o'in "practicve,v and f 'experimentation' I jhaietoundthat-y with the'ordnary sling, 1n l`,which tlieballisfheld in a hlein the leather,

'A519 or inwhichthere is anyltorm of'p'ocket-like efceptacle "for the ballgg ,Certainy counteract-ing y "ii'flueilces'prevent the ball tromleaying the VHslingv with' the desired freedoimand `both the reetioiiandtoce of throw are'fthereby modilied f'liheconditiorisfnrakingfor aberrations from eX'fpected resultst areof su'chnatnrethat t'h'e" throw'ertcainotlsprovide "for them by allowanees, kFor: ercaniplaiy itf'th' ball orthe ."-fl'eathe'r b'e'fwetg'asip nitrhe'r case of rain or the 'presence offdew, "th Qldf'orm of sling body A i" '-p'ecnliarfgripfiiponltlie ballatbe'rf 'tain tionsitliereoifiandthe'deflection from v`tlietbip` ilii'ie'-'otthrowlis; :very-marked,

, spending effects `VOiling the'leather to keep V make it; supple vchangesfthe results 1n va- 1 vv"rions ways'.v fSl'ight-diierences in construe` t'onxor materialimakef'tor `,noticeable varia' "1" l Under' these 'Circumstances I sought v to' as-l i fill"ce'r'tajin thejfcaii'seforcausesofthe/trouble and withtheresttltof overcoming all of the iectioiiL referredtofbyfpifoviding lagsling accordingto thisfspecieatiomby which the Fig. 4t is a transverse sectional View as on :the line 4 4 of Fig. 3; y y f Figs'.y and 6 aret'ragmentary top yviewsv similar` to Fig. 2 showing modifications in kithe ball-seat construction; and

U Figs? is aview similar to `Figf showing vaniodilication of the bodyleonstruction.: y

` 'llurning to Fig.` l', the sling is seen tocon- `'tl'aii'i broadly the elements oit a body and the swlnglrng-fcords orl thongs of thef ordinary r sling. j 'In use the'b'all l2 held by the body is 4retained by centrifugal force as the'device `is 'swung until one of the'cords, as 10,l is released,

when'the ball isdischarged.

Q"A"fminor feature of improvement shown Fi-glffl'lis in the loop device at the tree end fof Cord or thong 11. There is a soft elon-` gated flexible element 50, leather in my practice, apertnred at 51 to receive loosely the cord or'thongllwhieh is made fast to the oppofsiteend'otthe'element 5,0, as by apertnring ythemember 50 at 52 and applying a button or knot 58 lat the tree endotthe cord.fk `This censtruetion'lenables the operator to 'slip say his thirdinger into the space marked 54 and then passing the cord over the seeoncllinger 4of the same hand so that'when the cord 10^ is yheld between the lirstinger andthe thumb oithathand both of the cordsgl() and 11 are 'definitely under the control of the operators iingers and thumb iny making the-threw.V

The act of applying the'vcord llfirmlyand securelyto the` hand is thusrenderedsimple fand 'convenient,-tand` there are advantages,

Iftoo", inthe better sense `ofl teel andcontrol provided.

l y"ifm,fallrgofthj torce' andtrueness of ydirection to #e5 swinging' cords.arepartly'ibroken away;

tball'mavibesatisfactorilyprojected;and'with The principal improvements hereof` arein i feonnection' with'.r theV sling body, lWhichis 'Ufff vrmarked Ain Figs. l to :4. These improvef` ments may be described first with respect to the base y'of' that body. 1

It will be observed that in the preferred form ot Figs. Lto 4 the` basey marked 7as a 95 VwholeB is substantially Lflatadjacent tothe ball, andin this respect, so .far asIknow, it distinguishes from` all other slings of Vthis f 1j charact'en 'l f f1 Thefyariousbases illustrated are shown as vwliic" entitledbyi the strengthy and `skill Tot fthethrowen` L *In drawings Figa-re f isa" perspective ot mynoyel" fslingcompletafexcept that the Fig(y EZYisfa4 itragmentaryftop fv'iew of the bodyilaid ont vstraight .with one" end extension `br''o'kei1;u,ifay;n.-" v w '1 n .showsithey deVice'ot/Figs: 1 rand 'EZ '59 fchieflyfin medial vertical'section y'but with being substantially fiat asa Whole, but this shape is to be understood as resulting from i Yhelrinds of material used Vin a construction which maires for convenience 1n manufacture, lightness and the desired strength.

The principal feature sought to be expresse-d Vin the fiat construction is the freedom .of the l bodylas a Whole from a.'pocket'-likeforma-l Y tion; adjacent to `Where the ball is seated.V

Note lin Fig. 3 that there are vlarge yopen spaces marked S between-the 'body and the ball.' In the old type of sling the .-ballisl hugged tightly, or `in the discharge areasL will be contacted by, the leather lat the ball, l areas facing these spaces S. Y I desire to 'avoid' all suchcontacts. rvThe'flat construction yillustrated and asis hereinafter more particu- Y ,y tionsvin constructicnnmay be made While still providing the `desir-ed free-dom ofthe `ball from such laterally contacting or. impinging' areason the bodyof the sling.v I f Y v .f Other characteristics of the base'vBare' that Lity vissosubstantially strong andv sti-fil that. it',` maintains its'desired shape,1especially as to .f

l the upper 'partsfthfereoi under the very con-y Y;

' `base Band-the eXtensions'Cand D. from what larlydescribed, provi-des the desired advanf tages in this respect, but it will beclear that the shape of the bottom is of no particular importance and thatvarious other modificasiderable centrifugal forces tending to form it poclretllike duringY the swinging operation.v

Turning to Fig?) thebody c-omprisesthe may be terinedthe Aends, of thebase. s These end yextensions should `beof some such strong and flexible. material as leather. Theyform mean-sf for securing Athesivinging elements as 10' aindllv to the body., an'd,a`s )shown "in Fig-ftlie upper'portions of the extensions Gland D are folded arounditheicords l0 and ll'at? lli and 15 and windings kofcordor Wire 16, and Ubind the'cords r1O-and 11 tightly.

I preferably adda' 'bulbous element at the free ends 'ofitherespective cords .to prevent Y. sioeot it issimilar to' the vold sling Well known.

rlhe vbasev part 22, being of. soft leather, would Y not maintain its desired shape. I therefore provide a fs'econd base element 23, which is' shownin the form cfa plate-like piece of strong, `stiff and quite rrigid material. Sole leathernis' suitable'for thepurp'ose.'` It is stitchedy at 24 'to the base elementf22, vand these two laminations kcombined form a rigid yetv springy' structure Vadapted to maintain the desired shape for sometime, but that' construction alone is not deemed by me sufficient bei', or Veven metal.

to provide thev v*desired rigidity for long life and service'. The part 23 could be of stiffer material vthan leather, for example hard rub- On theftop surface of base member 22 I provide tvvoguide members 25 and 26, which in .my practice are also of leather lstrongly stitched at 27 to the base ymember 22; These elements 25 and 26 further strengthen ther construction' tomaintain a' substantially: fiat condition of atleast these parts 25 and 26.A

Figs. 2 and 4 show that the guides 25 and 26 are spaced apart and are provided with downwardlyandfinwardly slanting surfaces V25a and 26a, against which the ball l2 rests.

As shown in Fig.l2 the ball may roll .freely onthese guides toward theextensions V@and D While being retained against lateral movey yments. It will beobserved that'theseguide` Ways 25aandr26a do not form lin any sensela pocket, and thatespecially theydo, not form a pook-et in the direction of the extensions C i and Dfi' The more rigid element 23eXtends suiliciently toward the lextensions Gandv vD to 'maintain-the spaces as S.H i Il [In order to provideabase which VWillfnot vbecome distorted an-dforma pocket-like con# dition where leather or the, like is used I have Y added fa third reinforcing element in the .forni of a thinplate Y30 (fliigs. 3" and A4) of iloeigwhich? material isf not onlytiff buttit ls also splghk nietalplate couldbeused inthe-same position.' l

The" base thus far described, ivhilebeing strong and' Well adapted/toy maintain its desiredshapeunder conditionsofusais formed n f lalso to provideavslightyield inthefoutward directOn un'derthe centrifugal Weight ofthe j 1 ball, putt-ing the several parts of the .base-un#4 .der. spring tension; At they moment of release in the throw this stored-upenergy become'seiiective to separate the ball and the body of the slingpracticallyinstantly. The

Adesideratum is to release the ball-instantly the operatorrele'ases the'cordlas 10. If the lo@ Y bail be notthus instantly released its -direoy Turning to 2- lit Will'fbe observed that While'theeXtensions C and-.Dfare'i'n holding relation .to the ball, l,the ballfisnot being con- Ytion will beinterfered with and thefu'll effect ,s i u vof thepoiver applied Willnot'be had. Y

tacted at'anyother place than,V high up at the i `sides-fand at narrowopposite lines inythe vguides-of. theb'ase; Y- VThe natura-1 tendency of the extensions C fandDfis to! spring apart vrhenthe` swinging pressure vis released and then, 'sincethere is no part of the vvdevicefin gripping relation `to ythe ball` the hallv Hies away true to the force `and'skill applied; f'

Turn-ingto Fig. ,"in Whichlike partszvvillr bevr given thesam'e :reference characters as in Fig, the modification Ais in the provision of integral endnextensionsof the base .element 23a to form the'reinforcin'g elementsE Which extend Well-upV along'zthe sides of extensions i et,

Ciand D, andthe cords lOand 11y are. secured toitlie elements E by passing them through holes 35 ywhereby'the lockingelements as 18 vand 19 hold the wing-likeparts E in'close relation to members'` C and D. This kintegral Vmember 2.5 a andv EEfis of leather of substantially theliind lused for members 2i if() and D. VThe parts arestitched together at 36, and thevplate'fl() between'the laminations may be of suchmaterial as to providethe desired strength and 2rigidity, :preferably coupled with the slight yspringiness hereinabove Vpointed out. j The construction of F ig. 7v is peculiarly 'strong andserviceable, the parts .taking the lprin'cipaljstrains being'of double thickness.

` .L'Iuriiingfto Fig.'y 5, apart corresponding in various vrespectsto element 25 is marked 40 fand .thesame is strongly stitchedto the base "22? corresponding in z all 'respects to, they base -partQQof Fig..A 3. Instead 'of having guides providing that thejball may roll freely in bothV directions-th'ereare stop-means at one fend; and, asfillustrated, the downwardly Cil 1 slanting guidewsurfaces 41 terminate in a curved?seat. at The-openend of the Y "guides 141 istoward lextensionr C, whichm as i kwill be seen froniFig. 1,.is associated with je v l .r cord-10,fnamely, the cord to be released; Ihe

ball maythereforel roll freely-away from the seat part42 at'theinstant'of'release. The y tendency of the slingbody is to grip the ball chiefly on the sidethereof ltofwhich the releasable `cord`10 is secured,vv and I desire 'particularlly to avoid all 'counteracting contacts on that side]` The inodificationof Fig. 5 there- Vfore providesfor the desired freedom in the release from'theV side of the body chiefly involved., Partsnot illustrated in Fig. .5 and not specifically described may be; considered to be in' accordance with the preferred form except as to the plate-like piece 40.

" Inv Fig. G tlie plate-like lpiece 45 has a'downwardlyandv inwardly slanting circular scat 46 and departs yonlyjdn 'this respect from the preferred forni." In'l the use ofthe device ,ofFig'j 6 it will befound thatan` indentation i fot'the'V leather 45 Lisv formed at 47,showing 'that-at'the in'stantfof release ath'e part at 47 is obstructive, andy this ison the side of releas-v 'a-blecord 10.5 In this respect the `device of Fig, 6 is not as satisfactory as those ofthe f other illustrations ;fbut a sling constructed iu "accordance with Fie". 6 would be greatly superior to one built along the old lines in which the ball is pocketed and contacted at areas facing the spaces S in Figs. 3 and 7. The

grip upon the ball at the small area 47, while I being. of the kind which I'desire to avoid, relatively slight, and even this may be avoided by a greater resiliency in the base than I v would -ordinarily employ in connection with the other devices shown.

Such slings are ordinarily used with a swinging overhead motion in 'a substantially :horizontal plane forbest directional effects `with good distance, with va sortl of diagonal "ball weighing from two to ve ounces is suitable for accurate throwing and good vdisi tance. vWhile'stones and other irregularobjects could be :thrown to advantagein the `present sling, my chief object is tofprovide an appropriate sling for use in a game'to beplayed over a ycourse or courses laid out in anopen field, and I therefore suggesta ball as'thefmost suitable missile, with the sling` body particularly adapted to the use of a spherical object. i

- "I contemplate as being included in `these vimprovements all fsuch changes, variations,

`departures andmodifications from what is thus specifically illustrated and described as 4fallwithinthescope ofthe appended claims. i Iiclaiinr i i 1. A sling of the character described comprising a body and `opposite end extensions therefrom for cord or ythong attachments, `.the body having albase formed to seat a Vmissile thereon with the missile free of contact with at least one of said extensions at areas near. the base when the device and missile therein are normally being swung.

` 2. A slingof the character described coinprising `a `'body and opposite end extensions therefrom vfor cord or thong attachments,

the body having a base` formed to scat a i missile thereon withthe missile free of contact with said extensions at areas near the base when the device and missile therein are normally being swung. j

8. A sling of the charactei described having avbody comprising anintegralfstrap-like member 'of flexible material having a base portion and extensions at opposite ends of the :base portion'for .cord or thong attachments,A

ythere being a substantially stiff reinforcing member securedto saidjba'se portion and adapted to cooperate therewith in maintaining thebase as a whole in a' substantially constantshape f i f4. A sling of the character described having abody which includes a basey and lflexible end. extensions, the basefbeing but slightly 'll-exible, if flexible to'any extent, between said end extensions. n f

5,'A sling fof the character described having a body which includes a base and flexible'end extensions,the base being but slightly flexible, lif flexible toy any extent, between i Y for a missile on the Vbase the-constructionV said endfextensions, there bei-ng seat means providing that the missile is free of contact with said end extensions at any place closely vadjacentv to the base 'when the sling an vmissilev are normallybeing swung.

6. A sling of the character described which lincludes a body having aVv substantially flat, Vstrong and vstiff base. i

7. A sling of the character describedY which includes a' body having?` a base formed of laminations, the .base `being strong and stiffV (and `adapted to maintain itself in' av substani Vtially constant shape under all conditionsj'of use. l Y I f Y Y i 8. A'sling of the character described which includes a body having a laminatedbase,

Y one lamination thereof being of rflexiblermaterial "and extending avvaj/"fromk the basey atopposite ends thereof, another lamination thereof being Vof stiff `material adapted Sto maintain the lupper portion ofthe base substantially flat under conditions of use.

9. A sling of thecharacterdescribed which Aincludes a substantially flat base formed'ofV laminations,. one of Vsaid laminations consisting of `a plate-lil e piece-of strongistiff and springy material.`

10. A sling lof Y which includes a body having a base which issubstantially flat aste its upper portion,

'with ineaiisfassociated with the base adapted K tofbe put under spring tension wh-enthe sling is loaded land, being swung preparatory 'ihle leather or the p being a piece oli-strong and stiliq material. L.

toa normal throw. f i 11.'if\i sling of the. character described which ineludesa body having a base' formed of laininations, one lamination being offlexlike, 'another Vlamination 12T A sling of the character described ywhich includes a body 'having a base'fornied of laminationaone laminationbeing of flex-v ible leather or thenli'lc another lamination "being piece 'of lstrong and stiff material7 with Vseatineans for ainissile Carried by the inner one of said/ 'laminations flfA sling of the character described which includes a body havingl a lbasez siibl stantially free of pocket-like characteristics.

`14. sling of p' thek character'described which' includes' albody having abasefwitli a the character described Aiike; f f

ymeans adapted to hold a ballsubstantially free of contact with on-e ofsaid extensions i n adjacent to the base at `the instant ofrelease of. the ball in a normal'throw.' .v Y. f Y' "17.A sling of VVthe vcharacter described *which includes a lbody-havinga baseand extensions therefrom forfsecuring cords or the like thereto respectively, the leasey having means roviding 'soaced aaartduides sub- Y stanti'ally; parallel with eachother and di-V rected toward said extensions respectively?,v

said'guides being'adapted to h-oldaball for i? Y direc-ons at rightangles to the directions of `theguides 18.` Afsling 'ofV the lcharacterl described `comprising a body having .a substantially zlat,y still 'and strong base with extensions therefrom foi' the `attachment of cords-orthe like respectively/,a pair off'guides upstanding free rolling movements toward at vleast one Y i of the extension-swhile maintaining the balla0 inst movements relativefto 'thelbase'in when the Vdevicefis normally 4in uset Y *f frointhe base, theguides havingoppositelv 'disposeddownwardly-aiideinwardlyinclined track surfaces parallelfwith each other and directed longitudinally Itoward V,said exten--l sions respectively.

19. A sling of thel character described vcemprising:a bodyhavinga base/'with ilexiblel sheetmaterial j-extensions [at opposite ends thereof, 'and a cord or the like secured to eac-h of said extensions, theextensions sub.- Y y stantially enveloping the. cords respectively l y ino at `portionsof theiextensions respectively,

-with a winding around each lextension fat the place. ofthe cord'therein to'bindV the extension" and the` cord tightly .together.

20.- A sling. ofthe'. character, described having a bodyl and a'pair of swinging cords Y or the like, one of said cords having anchoring means comprising a short,-ilexib-le plate.- f f like eleinei'itjapeitured at -one-enkd, with the cord passing looselythrough said apertura' the endofthe coid-being secured VtoY the-opposite end'of said elemei'it to provide anad-v 'i'ustable loop; for thedinger `of the operator,

' one part of the d loopV being-A said vkelement Yand the other part thereof being thecord kor the HARRY o. isBELLI seat thereon substantially free of pocket-like characteristics. J y

' 15. A. sling of the vcharacter described which includes a body having a base pro'- vided with' means for holding a ball fsubtherefrom adapted for'securing cords yor'tli'e like thereto respectively, .the base including no; Y

iso` 

